1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a store management system and to a store management method which are suitable in the case of managing the display of merchandise information in a store.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-077938, filed Mar. 18, 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, various electronic systems for facilitating purchase and sale of merchandise in a store (a retail store or a shop) have been developed. For example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-200391), a system is described in which a plurality of terminals which a customer can operate are arranged in a store, and the merchandise information is displayed according to the operation of the customer.
Moreover, in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-83250), a system in which the merchandise information is displayed utilizing an information terminal which is carried by the customer is described. In this system, a non-contact type IC tag in which the merchandise information is recorded is adhered to the merchandise or the package of the merchandise, and the information thereof can be read by the portable information terminal from the non-contact type IC tag and the information thereof can be displayed.
Moreover, in Patent Document 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H11-133860), a system is described in which a merchandise tag (an indicator sheet which displays the price of the merchandise, and the like) is composed of a small electronic device which includes a display apparatus in which an IC chip is provided and an antenna. In this system, by transmitting the merchandise information by a radio signal from the IC card writer, the merchandise information in a memory of the IC chip is updated, and thereby the contents of the display of the merchandise tag can be changed.
Moreover, in Patent Document 4 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-65418), a system in which a display of the merchandise information on the merchandise display rack is conducted using an RFID tag is described. The RFID tag is composed of a memory, a display apparatus, and a power supply portion, and the RFID tag can update the merchandise information that RFID tag displays by a radio signal.
In the system as described in Patent Document 3, the merchandise information of each piece of merchandise is displayed using a liquid crystal display apparatus which can be attached to the merchandise. Therefore, there is a tendency for visibility, the amount of information which can be displayed, and the like, to be decreased, as compared with a non-portable type of display.
On the other hand, in the system as described in Patent Document 4, the display apparatus of the merchandise information is provided at the merchandise display rack. Therefore, problems arise in that there is a discrepancy between the display information and the contents of the merchandise, or since the registration information using a bar code or the like which is adhered to the merchandise is not renewed, there is a discrepancy between the display information and the amount of money when accounting is performed.